No. 74. 



POA FENDLERIANA (Stciid.) Vascy; IJrat/rosiis Fendlcrimia Steiul. Syii. 



(;r:nii. 1'78 (18.55). 



Plant pcreiiniiil, densely tufted or in " bunches." 



CiihiiK frect, siiiiplf. s<-;ibrid or TU'inl>- sninotli, Icjify to tlic middle rji-jiliove, 1 to 2 

 feet t^Ul. 



Learcx of r.idical tufts and sterile slioo'i.s very numerous, with smooth scariou.s 

 sheuths and rather ri}rid. flat or eondu]ili(ate, seabrous blades 1 line wide and to lli 

 inches hmff: leaves of the culm 1 to. 5; sheaths scabrid above, striate, rather loose, oi)en 

 near the throat, shorter than the iuternodes; blades 2 to 4 inches long; ligule decur 

 rent, 1 toli lines long. 



Iiiflorencence a rather closely flowered, obloug panicle 3 to inches long ; rays mostly 

 in twos or threes at the 7- to 10-nodes, minutely scabrid, erect or somewhat sp^eadi^lJ,^ 

 l.J inches h)ng or less, subdivided and spikele^bearing to the base ov the longer ones 

 naked below. 



Spilrlcts compressed, '^f, to 4A lines huig, 3- to .")-flowered with a rudiment; enipt.\ 

 glumes liroadly ovate, acute, carinate, minutely scabrid, 1-nerved or the second ^l-nerved 

 below, IJ to 2 lines long, the first slightly smaller, but neither equaling the lower 

 tioiets; floral glume ovat(!oblong, err)se or emarginate at the obtuse apex, carinate, 

 liispid on the keel above, an<l more or less pubescent on the marginal nerves and mid 

 nerve below, intermediate nerves less prominent, only the midnerve extending to the 

 apex, 2 to 2i lines long; i>alet oblong, enuirginate, pubescent on the two keels; sta 

 mens .H, nearly sessile in the open, divergent, staminate florets; grain linear, some- 

 what triaugidar, with a short, membranaceous wing at the apex, 1 line long; iuternode 

 of rachilla i lin(> long or less. 



Platk LXXIV; rt, pistillate spikelet: /;, first empty glume ; c, second empty glume; 

 d, floral glume; v, jialet not opened, ventral view; /, ovarj' and abortive stamens; y, 

 staminate panicle. 



8outhern California, Arizona, and Nevada. This .species was named without 

 description Sclenwliloa Californica Munro in Benth. PI. Hartw. 342 (1857), and was 

 described as Atrop'iH Californica Munro in Wats. Bot. Gal. ii. 309 (1880). In Vascy, 

 Cat. (irasses of IT. S. 81 (1885) it was again changed to T'oa Californica, and by this 

 name it is probably most widely known. Besides these proper synonyms, specimens 

 have been wrongly named /'. anditui Nutt. and P. tcnuifoUa Xutt. It is apparentl.\ 

 eomidetely dicecicms, and this fa<'t is probably one cause for the multiplicity of names 

 and the confusion regar<ling tlie species. The staminate panicle is more ojjen and 

 has fewer spikelets than the jjistillate, and the glumes are narrower, thinner, less 

 pubescent, and slightly smaller. The si)ikelets of the .staminate plant are flat, with 

 divergent tlorets open at maturity: while those of the pistillate |ilaiit are more tur- 

 gid, with merely carinate margins, the florets renuiining erect and closed. 



